Oakland volleyball holds off Stewarts Creek with 3-0 win

SMYRNA – First Oakland’s volleyball team withstood Stewarts Creek’s furious rally. Then the Lady Pariots made two furious rallies of their own.

Oakland defeated Stewarts Creek 27-25, 27-25, 25-18 Tuesday night in a key District 7-AAA game in the final week of the regular season.

“We came back and won both of them, won in three, and that’s all that really matters right now,” said Oakland coach Ken Nolan Jr.

Oakland moved to third in the district, with a 6-5 record. The Lady Patriots play at La Vergne on Thursday. Stewarts Creek dropped to 5-6 in the district.

Stewarts Creek played without its top hitter Kara Stoecker, who was out with a shoulder injury.

The Lady Patriots led by as many as seven points, 12-5, before the Lady Hawks battled back to tie it at 19-all. The score was tied at 25-25 when Oakland’s Shelby Gibson spiked it. The Lady Patriots won the game-deciding point after a fierce volley.

Stewarts Creek jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the second game. McKenzee Davis and Bree Brady scored for the Lady Hawks.

Stewarts Creek had a 22-16 lead when Oakland battled to score seven of the next eight points to tie it at 23-all. Briley Jarrell served throughout the run and kept Stewarts Creek off balance.

With the score tied 25-all Gibson and Jarrell came through with two more points from the net.

In the final game, Stewarts Creek led 13-7 before Oakland came back and tied it at 16, then scored eight straight to go up 24-16.

“We had struggles tonight with finishing games,” said Stewarts Creek coach Mary Dayton. “It was hard to get the flow. We would get momentum and then they would get a run. It was hard to keep our runs going.”

Throughout the matches, Oakland’s Taylor Harrell and Gibson were forces at the net. Harrell perfected the art of setting up on the left side of the net and spiking it where Stewarts Creek players couldn’t get to it.

“It was just keeping my head up and talking to my teammates and letting them know that I was an option,” said Harrell. “For them to get it to me the way they did was amazing. It felt great to win.”

“Our defense wasn’t always in the position where they should have been,” said Dayton. “It’s part of learning.”